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Pavelec's 50-save gem carries Thrashers past Ottawa

Ondrej Pavelec has gotten a chance to play because Atlanta starter Kari Lehtonen is recovering from back surgery. He's making the most of his opportunity to play.

Pavelec personally carried the Thrashers to a victory on Saturday afternoon, stopping 50 Ottawa shots in a 3-1 victory over the Senators at Scotiabank Place on Saturday.

''Right now I feel like Jacque Plante 50 years ago,'' said Pavelec, whose helmet flew off after he took a puck to the face.

Ottawa had nothing to show for a game in which it outshot Atlanta 51-21.

''He was fabulous,'' Thrashers coach John Anderson said. ''One of the best games I've ever seen in goal. He made us win.''

The victory snapped Atlanta's four-game losing streak.

''We didn't play well at all,'' said center Rich Peverley, who scored the Thrashers' second goal. ''At times it felt like we were just standing around. (Pavelec) handed us the win, he was tremendous.''

The Senators outshot the Thrashers 25-3 in the third period, but came up empty.

"It was a lot of frustration," Ottawa coach Cory Clouston said. "We worked hard, especially in the last 45 minutes. Once we got our game going, there wasn't very much to say about anyone."

The Thrashers, who have struggled early in games, took control by jumping out to a 2-0 lead after two periods on goals by defenseman Zach Bogosian and Peverley. Maxim Afinogenov added a late insurance goal.

''A couple of bounces didn't go our way, and it was just unfortunate,'' Leclaire said. ''The guys played a great game and we just ran into a hot goalie.''

Both Atlanta goals came after the Senators failed to win faceoffs in their own end.

Marty Reasoner beat Nick Foligno cleanly and slid the puck to Bogosian, whose shot got past Leclaire before the goalie could react at 12:13 of the first period.

''It was the start we wanted to get,'' Bogosian said.

The Thrashers made it 2-0 midway through the second despite being outshot 18-5 in the period. Peverley won a draw, and after a duel along the boards, Nik Antropov threw the puck out front where Peverley got a piece of it. The puck bounced in off Ottawa defenseman Chris Campoli at 11:51.

Ottawa entered the game with the fourth-worst faceoff winning percentage in the NHL.

The Senators cut the deficit to 2-1 at 15:33 of the third when Fisher scored from the side of the net during a 5-on-3 power play.

''We did some good things and worked hard, but just didn't get some of the breaks we needed to,'' Fisher said. ''One of those games where you run into a hot goalie and can't do anything about it.''

Afinogenov put the game out of reach with 1:31 left in regulation when he beat Leclaire between the legs.